Grandma's playroom

Turo loves going to Grandma's.  She's pretty great!

My helper

 The other day he grabbed the broom to clean his playroom (he just pushed stuff around with it, but it was a sweet idea).  

His favorite job is to bring the trash back to the garage.  I'll have to remind him of this when he's 15 and doesn't think this task is so fun anymore.

Super Turo

Turo was invited to a Super Hero birthday party.  After soliciting advice on Facebook, I used a cape we already had and some duct tape to fashion his costume, which he left on for all of 2 minutes once we got to the party.  It's hard to jump in all those bounce houses in your super hero garb.  

Turo & Mama tap into their creative sides

Birthday Boy

Back when we first became a family I often found myself with a lump of emotion in my throat.  I was on the brink of tears a lot those first months.  Brought on by joy. By sadness for what had been lost, for who had been lost.  Every moment seemed so profound.  Dancing in the kitchen.  Meeting friends & family for the first time.  Nightly snuggles in the rocking chair.  Bare toes in the summer grass.  Christmas morning.  Then those firsts turned into life.  Sweet, lovely life as a family and the emotions became less intense.  

But today we had a small party for Turo's birthday and as his friends sang to him, I could feel the tears welling up.  On the 15th, it'll have been four years since we learned we had a son.  I have so much gratitude for this child and what he has brought to my life. He is such a gift.

    

He's 5!

My sweet boy turned five last week.  Five!  

So much fun

My sister was in Ethiopia for three weeks this summer and had this outfit made for Turo.  

Katie teaches us how to make bread from scratch.  She even brought the starter all the way from Vienna.

Breakfast with my sister & brother.  

Everyone has fun at the museum.

More Rocky Mountain Goodness

Fun in the Mountains

Snow

I love watching Turo when he doesn't know I'm there.  I had been doing dishes and wondered why it was so quiet in the other room.  When I peeked around the corner, I found him in the chair, arms behind his head just watching the snow fall.  

Venturing out into the snow

Christmas

I'm very behind in blogging (and life in general) lately.  So I'm going to try to catch up with some photo highlights of the last month.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Visions of sugar plums?

The best gift ever...